RESOURCES

Resources, Organizations, and Useful Publications for SE Arizona Butterflies

 

SEABA and NABA Resources

North American Butterfly Association 

NABA has chapters throughout the United States. The NABA chapters work at the state and/or local level to conserve butterflies and to educate the public about the importance of butterflies. Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA) is our local chapter.

Central Arizona Butterfly Association

NABA chapter in the Phoenix area.

SEABA Butterfly Checklist

Our Southeastern Arizona Butterfly Checklist can be downloaded at SEABA Butterfly Checklist. Please note that the SEABA checklist is copyrighted.

Suggested Plants for SE Arizona

Download a list of suggested plants that includes information about butterflies they attract, written by Rich Bailowitz and Jim Brock with contributions by Doug Danforth. All three are well-known, long-time observers of SE AZ butterflies and authors of a number of nature guides. For the list: nababutterfly_az_southeastern.pdf

SEABA's Field Trip Release form may be downloaded at SEABA Release.

Organizations

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

On the museum's grounds there are plantings specifically for pollinators and there is also educational information about pollinators on the grounds and in the bookstore. The mission of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.

Desert Survivors

Desert Survivors, Inc. is a unique Tucson organization that combines a highly diverse native plant nursery with an employment program for adults with developmental disabilities. View on-line native plant lists on their website for both butterfly larval food plants and nectar-producing plants. Visit their nursery to purchase a wide variety of native plants suitable for southeast Arizona.

eButterfly

eButterfly is an international, web-based, data driven project dedicated to butterfly biodiversity, conservation, and education.

Sky Island Alliance

Sky Island Alliance's volunteer opportunities frequently include habitat restoration projects that benefit pollinators in our Sky Island Region. Sky Island Alliance connects wildlife pathways, discovers new species, establishes protected areas, restores healthy landscapes, and creates real conservation change in the Madrean Sky Islands. By lending a hand, you can make a difference!

Southwest Monarch Study

The Southwest Monarch Study is researching the migration and breeding patterns of monarch butterflies in Arizona and the SouthWestern United States. If you love monarch butterflies, consider joining their study.

SoWestLep

Since 1999, SoWestLep has been a listserv dedicated to the discussion of the Butterfly species that occur in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, northern and Southern Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. They are most interested in sightings of any kind and any discussions about the butterflies of the region.

The Butterfly Digest

This venue is the easiest way to access up-to-date news from lepidopterists, butterfly and dragonfly watchers from coast to coast. The Digest automatically compiles all posts from all the featured email lists and organizes them by region, by day, and by list. You can view the current day's messages, or browse messages back through the last 30 days.

Tohono Chul Park

At Tohono Chul’s Propagation Greenhouse, they grow and sell appropriate southwest and arid-adapted plants that promote water conservation and support wildlife, especially native pollinators, and provide accurate information on the care and use of these plants in the landscape. Tohono Chul Park enriches people's lives by connecting them with the wonders of nature, art and culture in the Sonoran Desert region and inspiring wise stewardship of the natural world.

Tucson Audubon Society

Tucson Audubon Society's Nature Shops offer books about butterflies, gardening, plants, wildlife and more. They also offer a variety of other items that are interesting to not only birders, but also to butterfliers, such as seeds for native butterfly / hummingbird plants and close-focus binoculars. Tucson Audubon Society inspires people to enjoy and protect birds through recreation, education, conservation, and restoration of the environment upon which we all depend.

Tucson Botanical Gardens

Butterfly Magic, open from October through May, provides a fully immersive experience that surrounds you with rare butterflies, tropical plants and orchids in bloom. Tucson Botanical Gardens promotes responsible and appropriate use of plants and water in a desert environment through education and demonstration and provides a place of beauty and tranquility for Tucson residents and visitors.

Xerces Society

The pollinator resources found on via this link support habitat restoration in western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.

Useful Publications for SE Arizona Butterflies

*Recommended starter publications for Beginning Butterfliers

Bailowitz, Richard & Jim Brock, Southestern Arizona Butterflies, Tucson, AZ:Wheatmark Publishing Co., 2022

Bailowitz, Richard & Hank Brodkin, Finding Butterflies in Arizona: A Guide to the Best Sites, Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 2007

Bailowitz, Richard & Douglas Danforth, 70 Common Butterflies of the Southwest, Tucson, AZ: Western National Parks Association, 1997*

Brock, Jim, Butterflies of Southeast Arizona, Austin, TX: Quick Reference Publishing,Inc., 2013*

Brock, Jim P., Butterflies of the Southwest, Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2008

Brock, Jim P. & Kenn Kaufman, Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, New York, NY: Hillstar Editions L.C., Houghton Mifflin, 2003*

Glassberg, Jeffrey, A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of North America, 2nd Edition, Morristown, NJ: Sunstreak Books, 2017

Glassberg, Jeffrey, A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America, 2nd Edition, Morristown, NJ: Sunstreak Books, 2018

Stewart, Bob & Priscilla Brodkin & Hank Brodkin, Butterflies of Arizona, A Photographic Guide, Arcata, CA: West Coast Lady Press, 2001

Vane-Wright, Dick, Butterflies - A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015

Butterfly and Pollinator Gardens:

    Tucson:

  • Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum:  2021 N Kinney Rd (west of the Tucson Mts), open 7:30 am to 5 pm – ENTRANCE FEE

  • Brandi Fenton Memorial Park:  3482 East River Road, open dawn to 10 pm – FREE

  • Christina Taylor-Green Memorial Park:  North Shannon and West Magee Roads – FREE

  • Pima County Master Gardeners Demo Gardens:  4210 N Campbell Ave, open Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm, pollinator garden – FREE

  • Sparkman garden (current status in question, not maintained last two years):  Sparkman Blvd just south of Bermuda St, (nearest address 2621 Sparkman)

  • Tohono Chul Park:  7366 Paseo del Norte, open 8 am – 5 pm – ENTRANCE FEE

  • Tucson Botanical Gardens:  2150 N Alvernon Way, open 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – ENTRANCE FEE

  • Ventana Canyon Resort (butterfly garden is behind the resort):  7000 N Resort Drive, open all day – FREE

Green Valley:

  • Desert Meadows Park:  Just east of Abrego Road and just north of Continental Rd, open all day – FREE

  • Pima County Master Gardeners Demo Gardens:  1100 Whitehouse Canyon Rd, open Monday-Friday 8:00am – 12:00pm – FREE

Patagonia:

  • Patagonia Butterfly Garden:  347 McKeown Ave – across the street from Red Mountain Foods, open all day – FREE

Other Resources

A Tribute To The Monarch Butterfly: How to Turn Your Backyard Into a Butterfly Friendly Habitat

RoundUp Alternatives at ConsumerNotice.org: https://www.consumernotice.org/environmental/pesticides/roundup/alternatives/